Comfort
by AdmHawthorne
Summary: Regina is sick and won't let anyone but Emma check on her.


Okay, so I promised beautifullife0 that I would write this prompt for them:

"Regina vomits up in front of Emma, and Emma has to take care of her because of the stomach flu that is wreaking havoc on Regina's digestive system."

A few things here. CS is a thing in the nebulous past, Regina lost Robin, and Zelena never had to dump her magic. Things are hunky-dory in Storybrooke. Think of it as the ending Swanqueen fans would be down for. I hate to lay it out there like that, but this is a serious canon divergent story. Frankly, however, if I ever do another Swen story, it'd be in a version of this AU universe. I think I basically stopped accepting the story canon shortly after Emma and Hook came back from the past the first time. *shrugs*

So, that said, here we go…

* * *

"Mom?" Henry sounded worried, which immediately put Emma on high alert. "Are you busy?"

"Henry, what's wrong?" She forced her legs to drop from their propped position on her desk and was standing looking for her key before she finished the sentence.

"Don't panic. Nothing's wrong by our usual standard of something is wrong." She narrowed her eyes at the lilt of sarcastic amusement in his tone. "It's just that Mom's sick, and she won't let me near her. It sounds pretty bad, and I figured she'd let you come check on her."

Emma stopped dead in her tracks, blocking the sidewalk outside of the police station. "Sick? Seriously? Your mom doesn't get sick."

He chuckled. "Yeah, she does. She's normally better at hiding it, but, I mean, come on Mom, she's human. Everyone gets sick."

"Yeah, okay," she shrugged and started walking toward her car. "So what kind of sick are we talking about here?"

"Not sure, but my best guess is something gross." He huffed, causing static to sound over the call. "I'm guessing it's either food poisoning or some kind of stomach bug, maybe?"

The sheriff scrunched her nose up and winced. "Oh, okay," she drew the word out as she thought about it for a moment. "Do you have anything like Pedialyteor Powerade in the house?"

"No, I already checked." He paused for a long moment, causing Emma to strain to try to hear whatever it was he was hearing. "I don't think she could keep it down right now anyway."

"Okay, kid, I'm going to stop and grab some Pedialyteand crackers and then I'll be over." She cranked the engine and glanced around at the deserted road. "I should be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Great," he sniffed frustratedly, "I guess I'll just sit here outside Mom's door and listen to make sure she doesn't pass out or something."

She chuckled. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

"She still in there?" Emma held a bottle of Pedialytein one hand and a small glass she procured from Regina's kitchen in the other.

From his spot on the floor, Henry looked up from his phone and shrugged. "Unless she poofed out of there, yeah." They both glanced at the door as the sound of retching echoed through the house. "Yeah, she's still in there." His face tensed with concern.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm going to go in there and check on her." She tried to give him her best reassuring smile. "She can't throw me out."

"Girlfriend or not, Mom, she can _definitely_ throw you out." He pushed up from the floor and shook out his legs. "Even sick, Mom's pretty stubborn."

"Yeah? Well," she gave him a defiant look. "So am I."

Walking into Regina's bedroom and closing the door behind her, she glanced around to find the room in disarray. A small pile of clothes sat on the lounge, and the empty bed looked like a disaster front. Emma frowned. Regina must really be sick.

She placed the drink and glass on one of the bedside tables and carefully picked her way through the litter of clothes and half used tissues scattered between the bed and the master bath. As she finally stepped into the bathroom, her eyes fell upon Regina sitting in the floor with her head laid back onto the rim of the tub.

"Go away," she groaned, grabbing her stomach and wincing.

"Happy to see you, too." Emma went to the sink to wet a washcloth. "How do you feel?"

"How do you think?" Regina tried for a death glare, but it came off more as agony wrapped in exhaustion.

"Yeah." The blonde moved toward the older woman with washcloth in hand and knelt down to run the cool cloth over Regina's face. "You're running a fever."

"I'm aware." Despite herself, the brunette sighed at the little bit of relief given to her by the cold washcloth. "You're going to get sick if you stay here, Emma."

"I doubt it. I have the immune system of a Spartan." The younger woman smirked at the weak eye roll that comment received. "I don't usually get sick, and, besides, even if I do, it's fine. I'm here to take care of you."

"And then I'll take care of you, is that it?" Regina weakly snorted. "That sounds like the start of a miserable cycle of hurt, mend, rinse, and repeat." She winced, pulled her arm tightly against her abdomen.

"Stomach cramps?" At the brunette's small nod, Emma's frown deepened. "How long have you had this?"

"About six hours. It hit me around four this morning. I haven't had anything to…" Regina took in a deep breath and held it for a long second. Her face went ashen just before she tumbled forward on all fours and scurried to toilet. Grasping either side with her hands, her head dipped down and her body shook with the force of the retching that gurgled through her small frame.

Emma rushed to her, unsure of what to do, but wanting to be near just in case. It seemed like an eternity passed before Regina righted herself, hitting the plunger on her way up and falling back against the nearest wall.

"Here," the blonde spoke gently as she handed the other woman a tissue and again went to wet the cloth. "I brought something to help you keep hydrated." She knelt down and again wiped the now pale and sweaty forehead of her girlfriend. "You need to try to drink at least a little of it, even if you can't keep it all down."

Regina closed her eyes and took in a few more deep breaths. "I'm so tired."

"I know," Emma whispered quietly. "I know you are. Do you want to try to sleep a little?"

"At this point, I'd take death," the brunette half-heartedly quipped.

"We've gone through too much for you to die from the stomach flu." Slowly standing up, Emma made her way back to the bed and straightened it to give enough room for both of them. She glanced at it for a long second and grunted, flicking her wrist and swiftly changing both the sheets on the bed and changing her clothes to something more comfortable before she padded back into the bathroom to find Regina with the washcloth covering her face. "Want me to help you back to the bed?"

"Please?" Regina's voice sounded small. "I don't think I can stand up straight. These cramps…" She trailed off into a pained groan.

"Okay, I can do that." Reaching down, she offered her hand and waited for Regina to find her balance to slowly rise. They shuffled to the bed with Regina bent over and breathing heavily.

Coming to a stop on the side closest to the bathroom, Regina took in a quiet breath. "You changed the sheets?"

"It'll make you feel better," Emma answered by way of explanation as she helped guide the other woman into bed. "After you've slept a little, I'll help you take a bath, and you're going to have to drink some of the Pedialite. I'm serious about that, Regina. If you get too dehydrated, it could really be dangerous."

"Okay." The brunette curled into a small ball, clutching at her stomach. "What will you do?"

"I'm going to stay here with you and text everyone to let them know what's going on. Since you won't let Henry in here, the least we can do is let him know you're no dying." Emma made her way to the other side of the bed and gently scooted in. "After that, I'm here until you're better."

Regina curled tighter into herself. "I'm so cold."

The sheriff pulled up the comforter and tucked around the other woman. "Better?"

"Yes."

Picking up her phone, Emma shot off a couple of text messages to leave directions for the station and tell Henry what was going on. After finishing up, she tossed the phone back on the nightstand and rolled onto her side to look at the other woman. "Regina?"

"Still cold," came the response, and, after a long, hesitant pause, there was a request. "Hold me?"

"Yeah, I can do that, too," Emma replied softly as she carefully settled in and wrapped her arms around the older woman. "Better?"

Regina took in a shaky breath and scooted back ever so slightly. "Always."


End file.
